weekly
Welcome to the one hundred sixteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. We are back, and so is the Bank of Japan, with their June Monetary Policy Meeting. While a change in the policy rate is not expected, the Bank will update its plan for JGB purchases starting in April
payments
EVONET has launched a cross-border mobile wallet interoperability service in partnership with KDDI Corporation and Tenpay Payment Technology. In the first phase of this initiative, more than 1.4 billion WeChat users from China can make payments by WeChat Pay (Weixin Pay) at au PAY-affiliated stores across Japan by simply
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fifteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Greetings from Lake Biwa! Our annual sake brewery tour & domestic holiday has us hovering around Japan's biggest lake, with our path leading us across Gifu, Shiga, Fukui, and Kyoto prefectures so far. We got to
central bank
Bank of Japan Executive Director Kazushige Kamiyama spoke at the third "Meetup with BoJ", hosted by the FinTech Association of Japan. Introduction Good afternoon, everyone. I am Kamiyama from the Bank of Japan. Thank you very much for this valuable opportunity to speak with all of you who
cards
TOPPAN Security, a global leader in secure identity and payment solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire dzcard Group, a prominent provider of smart card solutions and personalization services across Asia and Africa. This strategic acquisition immediately positions the TOPPAN Group as the clear leader in the Asian
mergers & acquisitions
SB Payment Service (SBPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank and the core of the company's finance business, has signed a capital and business alliance agreement with Nomupay, a company that provides local payment methods and global-standard payment products in the EU and Asia. Pursuant to this agreement,
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred fourteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. Never a dull moment in banking! Deal-making galore, and finally the cash on those balance sheets is put to productive use (rather than stock buy backs and increased dividends, i.e. financial engineering), with the aim of developing
payments
JR West has launched its new payment service "Wesmo!" under the brand concept "Moving is Value," after becoming the first domestic railway operator to register as a Type II funds transfer service provider under the Payment Services Act. The company has previously provided the J-WEST credit
weekly
Welcome to the one hundred thirteenth edition of the Japan FinTech Observer. When I joined an investment bank in 2000, we had afternoon fruit baskets. These disappeared after the internet bubble burst, and even before 9/11 happened. A few years later, fruit baskets made a comeback, only to be
stablecoin
JPYC announced that their previously issued prepaid payment instrument "JPYC Prepaid" will be treated as an electronic payment instrument starting June 1, 2025, following the required transition period after the amended Payment Services Act took effect on June 1, 2023. Handling of "JPYC Prepaid" from June
consumer finance
Credit Saison's financial results for fiscal year 2024 demonstrate a period of significant growth and strategic evolution. The company achieved record-high consolidated operating profit, reflecting strong performance across its core business segments and the positive impact of specific accounting factors. Overall, the company's diverse business model,
payments
PayPay will begin offering the virtual card "PayPay Balance Card," which can be issued on the PayPay app and used at online credit card member merchants. The "PayPay Balance Card" can be used at domestic online shopping and content websites that accept Visa credit cards, with